Developing Epistemic Communities in a Global City: Los Angeles

In this 2014 essay focused on the changing sociocultural dynamics observed in global cities, Michael Ignatieff discussed the social and moral factors necessary for community-based inclusive growth in the face of rapid migration and shifting demographics.

Although global cities such as Los Angeles and New York have seen the emergence of multiracial, multilingual, and multicultural communities, they have also seen tension and compromise. Ignatieff saw the community as having moral properties guiding its development, but agreed with a central notion in Benner and Pastor’s Just Growth book that a community has epistemic ones too: “without shared knowledge, a community is prey to rumor, panic, disinformation, or manipulation,” he said. “With shared knowledge, a community can act to defend its interests and do politics together.”

In light of Los Angeles rapidly becoming a majority-Latino city, Ignatieff pointed out a new expectation at the core of its moral operating system – citizenship for the undocumented.